FR2951155A1 - METHOD OF FILTRATION AND PURIFICATION OF WATER AND DEVICE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE SAME - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for filtering and purifying water taken directly from any available source (1), characterized by the following steps: a) the water is taken by means of a pipe (2) provided at its end free of a strainer (3) and passed through a first particulate filter (4); b) the water is passed under pressure through a second particulate filter (7) of greater fineness of filtration than the first; c) the water is passed under pressure through an activated carbon filter (8); d) the pressurized water is passed through a two-outlet reverse osmosis filter (9) (9a, 9b), leaving the osmosis water through an outlet (9a) to the next stage and rejecting the rest by the second exit (9b); e) the osmosis water is passed through a UVC sterilization device (12) and filtered and purified water is recovered at its outlet through a bacterial anti-backflow membrane capsule (13).

Description

The present invention relates to a method for filtering and purifying water taken directly from any available source such as river, river, aquifer, well, water reservoir, recovery of rainwater, dew, to make it pure and suitable for human consumption as well as a device for implementing the process.

In populated areas with a drinking water distribution system, water withdrawn from one or more sources is treated in adequate facilities. The treatment applied depends on the quality of the water taken in order to obtain a correspondence with pre-established standards. However, we can have water that is not suitable for everyone because it contains too much calcium or some minerals or bacteria etc. Users have the choice to carry out a filtration or purification finer by installing a device that is found in shops or with sanitary installers to eliminate these elements. In laboratories and hospitals such facilities are also used arranged according to the purpose sought to improve the quality of the water supplied.

In regions without a drinking water network, water is taken directly from the available source, which may be a river, a river, a water table, a well, a reservoir, or a simple recovery of water. rain or dew water. Not necessarily having the appropriate devices to perform water analyzes, they manage empirically to make it drinkable. Likewise, when one has to cross or live in arid or drought-stricken areas any water whatever its quality must be able to be used.

The water to be treated may contain several polluting agents such as sand and other solid detritus, minerals, chemicals, pathogenic micro-organisms such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, etc. When analyzing the water to be treated it is possible to choose the processes, products and devices that make it possible to eliminate these pollutants, but it is almost impossible to carry out such an analysis in the situations mentioned above.

The inventors know the different treatments, products and devices currently used to filter and purify water unfit for consumption, they have sought a method and apparatus for filtration and purification to treat any water regardless of its quality and without first doing a analysis to detect pollutants to be eliminated. B09EN0011 The method according to the invention is characterized by the following steps.

a) the water is taken by means of a pipe provided at its free end with a strainer and passed through a first particulate filter; b) the pressurized water is passed through a second particulate filter of greater fineness of filtration than the first; c) the water is pressurized through an activated carbon filter; d) the pressurized water is passed through a two-outlet reverse osmosis filter, leaving the osmosis water leaving the outlet for the next step and rejecting the remainder through the second outlet; e) the osmosis water is passed through a UVC sterilization device and filtered and purified water is recovered at its outlet through a bacterial anti-backflow membrane capsule.

The advantage of this process is that it allows without preliminary analysis to eliminate all pollutants and obtain drinking water quality meeting stringent standards. B09FR0011 According to a preferred variant, the water is taken off and sent under pressure by means of a suction-booster pump.

Pressure is an important feature on the one hand to be able to pass the water to be treated through the filters.

According to another variant, the filtration fineness of the first particle filter is of the order of 75 μm, that of the second particle filter is of the order of 5 μm, that of the 10 μm active carbon filter, that of the osmosis is of the order of 0.0001 pm and that of the membrane capsule with bacterial anti-return filter fineness is of the order of 0.02 pm.

By means of the filters having such a fineness, almost all the pollutants are removed. The invention also relates to a device for activating the process according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises a suction-booster pump connected to a hose provided at its free end with a strainer and a first particulate filter. of filtration fineness of the order of 75 μm arranged upstream of said pump, which downstream of the pump are arranged in the flow directions of the water discharged by the pump: a second fine particle filter filtration of the order of B09FR0011 5} gym followed by an activated carbon filter fineness of filtration of the order of 10} gym followed by an osmosis filter fineness of filtration of the order of 0.0001} gym equipped with two outlets, one of which is arranged with a flow limiter allowing the reject water to pass while the other outlet supplies osmosis water with a UVC sterilization device downstream of which a membrane capsule with a filtration fineness of the order of 0.02} gym with bacterial anti-return effect lai sse the filtered and purified water.

According to a variant, the device is characterized in that downstream of said pump and before the second particle filter is disposed a volumetric water meter.

It is important after the treatment of a volume of water to replace some filters in order to continue the treatment of the water taken without affecting the quality of the water recovered. The volumetric water meter makes it possible to measure the quantity treated and carry out this maintenance.

For this purpose according to another variant the volumetric water meter is provided with a resetting flow blocking device intended to block the use of the device after the treatment of a given volume of water indicating that certain filters must be cleaned or replaced. B09FR0011 According to a preferred embodiment the device is a portable device and the pump is an electric pump powered by a direct current of 12 V.

Indeed, it is important that one can easily use such a device when traveling in areas without a drinking water system. Power can be supplied to the pump by 12 V DC using, for example, the battery of a vehicle or other accumulator charged by photovoltaic or wind cells or a DC generator which may be part of the equipment when an expedition, etc.

According to a variant, the pump is suction-diaphragm membrane providing a maximum discharge pressure of 4.8 bars.

Finally the flow restrictor is set to allow the ratio between the volume of the osmosis water and the volume of the reject water to be between 1: 3 to 1: 5.

Indeed, to prevent all the treated water passing through the reverse osmosis filter passes into the reject water must be provided a flow limiter. The inventors have chosen this ratio between 1: 3 and 1: 5, that is to say one liter of purified water for four to six liters of treated water in order to obtain good quality water.

The invention will be described in more detail with the aid of the accompanying drawing.

Figure 1 is a diagram of the device according to the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a reverse osmosis filter to see different elements of this filter.

FIG. 1 schematically shows: a source of water 1, a water sampling tube 2 whose free end is provided with a strainer 3, a first particle filter 4 situated upstream of a pump 5, followed by a volumetric water meter 6, followed by a second particulate filter 7 of greater fineness than the first particulate filter 4, followed by an activated carbon filter, followed by a filter reverse osmosis apparatus 9 provided with a first outlet 9a to a UVC sterilization device 12 and a second outlet 9b to a flow restrictor 10 allowing the discharge water to flow outwardly. sterilization 12 is provided at its outlet with a 0.02pm membrane capsule with a bacterial anti-return effect 13 for B09FR0011 to avoid a back-contamination of the device 12. The filtered and purified water flows freely through a pipe of exit.

In principle, the pump 5 is of the suction-discharge type, but if the water source is at a certain height with respect to the pump 5, the pump can only be repressing. The volumetric water meter is preferably provided with a resettable flow blocking device for blocking the use of the device after the treatment of a given volume of water indicating that some filters need to be replaced. The water is pumped by the pump 5 under a maximum pressure of 4.8 bar.

We will now describe in more detail the various elements of a portable device made by the inventors containing all the elements with the exception of the pipe 2 with the strainer, the first particulate filter 4 the pure water outlet pipe 14 and the power supply. The whole is housed in a box of about (H) 40 x (L) 30 x (P) 21 cm to produce about 15 to 18 liters of drinking water per hour.

The strainer 3 is a wire mesh preferably in stainless steel having a filtration fineness of about 1 to 2 mm for filtering already the solid detritus in suspension. The strainer 3 is installed at the free end of a hose 2 dipped in the water source 1. The first particle filter 4 having a fineness of the order of 75} gym is located at the second end of the hose flexible upstream of the pump 5 so just before the hose connector 2 to the housing. Its purpose is to protect the pump 5 by preventing too large particles from fouling the diaphragm pump. The life of the filter 4 is several years as long as this filter is washed regularly. The electric pump 5 is a 12V DC powered pump and is suction-squeezing membrane. It allows to provide a maximum delivery pressure of 4.8 Bars. It is small in size, about 16 cm long, 6 cm high and 10 cm wide. Its total weight is about 650 grams. Inside the housing the second particulate filter 7 having a fineness of the order of 5} gym allows to filter particles in suspension greater than 5Jm. The life of the filter 7 is between 6 and 8 m3 depending on the type of filtered water. Between the pump 5 and the filter 7 there is a volumetric water meter for measuring the volume of water treated. It is equipped with a resettable flow blocking device to block the use of the device after the treatment of a given volume of water indicating to the user that some filters need to be replaced. The activated carbon filter 8 has a filtration fineness of the order of 10 .mu.m. Placed at the sotie of the second particulate filter 7, the activated carbon filter 8 makes it possible to eliminate pesticides, chlorine, odors and bad tastes of water. The life of the filter 8 is between 6 and 8 m3 depending on the type of filtered water.

The reverse osmosis filter 9 is placed at the outlet of the active carbon filter 8. It makes it possible to obtain a filtration of very great fineness of the order of 0.0001 μm and it removes 95 to 99.9% of the chemical pollutants, the chlorine, heavy metals, bacteria, turbidity, nitrates, pesticides, radioactivity. It comprises a pure water outlet 9a and a discharge outlet 9b. Referring to Figure 2 the reverse osmosis filter 9 comprises a perforated central tube 91 closed at the upstream end 92 and open on the downstream side 9a to let the osmosis water. On the central tube 91 is wound in several layers a reverse osmosis membrane 94 the assembly being housed in a casing 95. The water leaving the B09FR0011 activated carbon filter 8 enters under pressure in the reverse osmosis filter 9 by the entrance 93.

Pure drinking water is an essential element for the good health of man. Water quality is degraded by pollution and chemical treatments and tap water is often filled with undesirable elements that are not neutral for good shape and good health. It is fundamental to drink water of quality, as light as possible. Reverse osmosis is the process by which water passes through an ultra thin, semi-permeable membrane. This membrane is permeable only to the finest molecules, ie the H2O molecules. This natural process does not store contaminants, unlike conventional filters. The process is called "inverse" because it requires a sufficient pressure to "force" the pure water to pass through the membrane 94. This gives very good results, since it eliminates between 95% and 99.9% of the particles or elements present in the water. The reverse osmosis membrane allows the finest filtration and no other filter can reach this level. This quality of filtration is only possible to the extent that the membrane is in good working order. This can be checked regularly by means of the TDS tester which measures the residual total dissolved solids in the osmosis water compared to the non-osmosis water. The most efficient filters are limited to a micron filtration and only reverse osmosis can go well below, namely up to a fineness of 0.0001 micron.

Reverse osmosis water is light and very weakly mineralized. Because of its purity, it helps our body for exchanges and for the evacuation of toxins. It is a completely bio-available water. Reverse osmosis is the method used for many years in hemodialysis. It is also used in all environments requiring pure water (laboratory, food industry). Its life span is several years if used correctly.

In order to force the pure water to pass through the membrane 94 and to pass through the perforated tube 91, a pressure is required at the inlet 93 of the tube, but a flow limiter 10 is also required at the outlet 9b of the filter 9. This limiter allows to define the ratio between the amount of osmosis water flowing from the outlet 9a and the amount of outgoing discharge water 11 flowing through the outlet 9b. The outlet 9a of the filter 9 is connected to the inlet 30 of a UVC sterilization device 12. A B09FR0011 stainless steel casing containing a UVC lamp of 4 or 6w ensures the bacterial decontamination of the water leaving the filter 9. The UVC lamp as well as the pump 5 are by 12V DC direct current source.

The outlet of the device 12 is provided with a 0.02 μm fineness membrane capsule with a bacterial antirestour effect 13 to prevent the retro-contamination of the water contained in the device 12.

In comparison with existing portable filtration and purification products, this six-stage water filtration and purification device (two particle filters, activated carbon filter, reverse osmosis filter, UVC sterilization device, membrane capsule (with anti-return effect) makes it possible to obtain an unequaled quality of filtration, to produce a pure water, free from chemical pollutants, chlorine, heavy metals, bacteria, protozoa virus, turbidity, nitrates, pesticides, radioactivity The particular arrangement of the filtration chain and the UVC sterilization device provided with a membrane capsule with a non-return effect which avoids the retro-contamination of the water in this system. B09FR0011 device allows to obtain pure water free of bacteria and other microorganisms.

This portable device connects to all 12V power supplies such as vehicles, cars, motorhomes, caravans, boats, trucks (with 24 / 12V adapter). It can also be used with portable solar devices for power supply (eg product iLAND Ewerywhere and others). Moreover, the device is easily transported by means of a backpack.

Laboratory tests (chemical & bacterial analyzes) have been successfully performed, starting from extremely polluted water.

The example describes a portable device capable of delivering 15 to 18 liters of pure and clean water for human consumption per hour, but the same purification method can also be used with a larger device using, for example, a pump. having a larger flow rate and feeding in parallel several sets containing the filters 7, 8, 9 and possibly 12 to obtain a larger purified water flow rate.

30 B09FR001115

Claims (9)

Revendications1. A process for filtering and purifying water taken directly from any available source (1) such as a river, river, aquifer, well, reservoir, rainwater or dew water, to make it pure and clean human consumption, characterized by the following steps. a) the water is taken by means of a pipe (2) provided at its free end with a strainer (3) and passed through a first particulate filter (4); b) the water is passed under pressure through a second particulate filter (7) of greater fineness of filtration than the first; c) the water is passed under pressure through an activated carbon filter (8); d) the pressurized water is passed through a two-outlet reverse osmosis filter (9) (9a, 9b), leaving the osmosis water through an outlet (9a) to the next stage and rejecting the rest by the second exit (9b); e) the osmosis water is passed through a UVC sterilization device (12) and filtered and purified water is recovered at its outlet through a bacterial anti-backflow membrane capsule (13). B09FR0011 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the water is taken and sent under pressure by means of a suction pump-discharge (5). 3. Method according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the fineness of filtration of the first filter (4) particle is of the order 75} gym, the second particle filter (7) is of the order of 5} gym, that of the activated carbon filter (8) is of the order of 10} gym, that of the osmosis filter (9) is of the order of 0.0001} gym and that of the capsule to membrane anti-return effect of the order of 0.02} gym. 4. Device for implementing the method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a suction-displacement pump (5) connected to a pipe (2) provided at its free end with a strainer ( 3) and a first particulate filter (4) fineness of filtration of the order of 75} gym disposed upstream of said pump (5), that downstream of the pump (5) are arranged in the direction flow of water discharged by the pump: a second particulate filter (7) fineness of filtration of the order of 5} gym followed by an activated carbon filter (8) filter fineness of the order of 10} gym followed by an osmosis filter (9) fineness of filtration order 0.0001} gym provided with two outputs (9a, 9b) of which one (9b) is arranged B09FR0011du a flow limiter (10 ) allowing the reject water to pass while the other outlet (9a) feeds in osmosis water a UVC sterilization device (12) downstream of which a bacterial anti-return membrane capsule (13) d The filtration fineness of the order of 0.02 μm allows the filtered and purified water to escape. 5. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that downstream of said pump (5) and before the second particulate filter (7) is disposed a volumetric water meter (6). 6. Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the volumetric water meter (6) is provided with a flow blocking device with reset for blocking the use of the device after the treatment of a determined volume. indicating that some filters need to be replaced. 7. Device according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the device is a portable device and the pump (5) is an electric pump powered by a direct current of 12 V. 8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the pump (5) is a suction-suction membrane providing a maximum discharge pressure of 4.8 bar. 9. Device according to one of claims 4 to 8, characterized in that the flow limiter (10) is set to allow the ratio between the volume of osmosis water and the volume of reject water is 1: 3 at 1: 5. B09FR0011